railroads

President Donald Trump’s threats to disrupt trade with Mexico aren’t just concerning people south of the border. Each time Trump attacks the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the executives at a 130-year-old railroad with headquarters in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, hold their breath. Like a lot of U.S. companies Kansas City Southern depends on cross-border trade.

First, with more than 5,000 "honor killings" occurring around the world every year, violence against women is a widespread problem with no single solution. Then, we hear both sides of upcoming ballot initiatives that propose a new public safety tax in Johnson County, and a new levy in Kansas City, Missouri, that would fund a light rail network. Finally, the most recent installment of A Fan's Notes.

You've probably never heard of him, but if it weren’t for the work of Octave Chanute, those shiny streetcars might be climbing the hills of Saint Joseph, Missouri, not Kansas City. Instead of celebrating the Royals’ World Series win, we could be cheering on the Leavenworth Lions.

But in a single master stroke, Chanute’s Hannibal Bridge, completed in 1869, allowed cattle, and all sorts of other freight, to cross back and forth from Clay and Jackson counties in record time.

Increased oil production in America and greater demand to move petroleum across the continent has increased the risk of devastating accidents, like the 2013 explosion in Quebec that took 47 lives. We explore what makes these “rolling pipelines” so dangerous and what’s being done to minimize that risk.

Rail hobbyist, Jeff Van Leuvan is on the pedestrian bridge at Kansas City’s Union Station watching the trains.

“This is a Union Pacific train. It is a coal train and it is probably going toward the St. Louis area,” he comments as another train passes by. Van Leuvan says you can watch up to 120 freight trains pass by this bridge daily.

A new railroad bridge over the Osage River between St. Louis and Jefferson City is now open for both passenger and freight train use.

The new bridge cost $28 million, with most of the funds coming from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo says the project came in under budget and ahead of schedule.

“We now have double-track running the entire stretch from Jefferson City to St. Louis, and delays caused by rail traffic funneling into a single track over the old bridge are now a thing of the past,” said Szabo.

The Chairman of Kansas City’s Regional Transit Alliance fears a proposed medical research tax will divert funds and attention from improved rail transportation. The stand does not extend to active opposition to the tax.

Kite Singleton of the Transit Alliance makes it clear he is not campaigning against the half cent medical research tax going on the Jackson County ballot in November.

America’s love affair with the railroad spans more than a century … with some of its most ardent admirers here in the heartland.

One of them, developer Arthur Stilwell had a hunch that the Kansas City region had enormous commercial potential. Luckily for him … and for us … he was right. The plan Stilwell pursued changed our city’s business landscape forever.